The Earth After Us

What Legacy Will Humans Leave in the Rocks?

Jan Zalasiewicz

An imaginative account of the world 100 million years from now, offering a novel perspective of our reign on Earth, suggesting what future aliens might find as they piece together the history of the planet from the rocks

Shows the difficulties of interpreting the Earth's past history from the rocks, and explains the ingenious ways in which geologists and paleontologists work

Reveals how the footprint of humanity--and hence of all our actions now--will never disappear from planet Earth

Provides a novel way at looking at geological processes and mechanisms--from fossilization to plate tectonics

Asks intriguing questions, such as what kind of fossils will humans leave behind? What will happen to cities, roads, cars, and plastic cups? How thick a layer would the "human stratum" be? And what clues might the rocks reveal about our demise as a species?

Provides a unique perspective on environmental change--and argues that the geological legacy of Homo sapiens will provide the ultimate verdict on our species and on our relationship with the planet

The Earth After Us

What Legacy Will Humans Leave in the Rocks?

Jan Zalasiewicz

Description

Geologist Jan Zalasiewicz takes the reader on a fascinating trip one hundred million years into the future--long after the human race becomes extinct--to explore what will remain of our brief but dramatic sojourn on Earth. He describes how geologists in the far future might piece together the history of the planet, and slowly decipher the history of humanity from the traces we will leave impressed in the rock strata. What story will the rocks tell of us? What kind of fossils will humans leave behind? What will happen to cities, cars, and plastic cups? The trail leads finally to the bones of the inhabitants of petrified cities that have slept deep underground for many millions of years. As thought-provoking as it is engaging, this book simultaneously explains the
geological mechanisms that shape our planet, from fossilization to plate tectonics, illuminates the various ingenious ways in which geologists and paleontologist work, and offers a final perspective on humanity and its actions that may prove to be more objective than any other.

Jan Zalasiewicz

Table of Contents

The Earth After Us

What Legacy Will Humans Leave in the Rocks?

Jan Zalasiewicz

Author Information

Jan Zalasiewicz is a Lecturer in Geology at the University of Leicester, before that working at the British Geological Survey. A field geologist, palaeontologist and stratigrapher, he teaches various aspects of geology and Earth history to undergraduate and postgraduate students, and is a researcher into fossil ecosystems and environments across over half a billion years of geological time. He has published over a hundred papers in scientific journals.

The Earth After Us

What Legacy Will Humans Leave in the Rocks?

Jan Zalasiewicz

Reviews and Awards

"What fragments of our cities, dams and factories may be detectable in, say, 100 million years' time? It is a simple but intriguing thought experiment that is explored in this neat little geological entertainment."--The Observer

"It is sobering to consider what sort of legacy we're bequeathing our planet and in this regard The Earth After Us is a thoroughly inspirational book. At all levels, it provides a fantastic introduction to the world about us taken from a highly original angle."--Nature

"The central premise of The Earth After Us is in discussing what traces might remain 100 million years in the future of our species and the civilisation we have built if we were to fall extinct. In answering this question, Jan Zalasiewicz provides an engaging and broad sweep of the science of geology, different signals preserved in the rocks, and the important inferences that can be drawn from them."--The Astrobiology Society of Britain

"[A] powerful introduction to the idea of the Anthropocene." --Asian Review of World Histories